The Debono family first started serving London's restaurateurs chefs more than 35 years ago.

From a delicatessen in Soho in the early 70's, George Debono began to serve consumers with specialist Italian products. Before long, many of the nearby restaurants were calling on him to supply them with some of his popular goods and in this way the business began to grow.

Success forced George to make a decision about where his future lay: to remain in Frith street serving a loyal, but limited, customer base or move to premises from which he could satisfy increasing demand. As an entrepreneur the decision to move was made and George found premises first in Forest Gate and by 1994 had moved again to a larger warehouse in Canning Town.

Moving enabled George to serve a larger customer base with a wider range of products. By the end of the 90's George Debono had established himself as a leading supplier to chefs in central London with a reputation for a fine range of continental foods supported by excellent service.

Retiring in the year 2000, the business was taken over by a holding company with little experience in running a business like Debono. Sadly, the departure of George Debono coupled with the mismanagement of the business led to difficult times.

In January 2002 the business again changed hands and was taken on by another entrepreneur Derek Wignall. Derek built his reputation in food processing and has significant experience supplying meat and poultry to supermarkets and processors nationwide. In 2003 he brought a partner into the business, Gareth Allen, with experience from the food industry of administration and general management.

In July 2005, following the acquisition of VJ Foods, the business moved again to larger premises in East London in response to growing customer demand. At the same time the product range was broadened to include dairy and cooked meat products as well as enhancing the existing range of traditional dry goods items.

Today the focus of the business remains on providing the customer with an excellent level of service. The product range reflects the roots of the business, but has broadened to include many new food and non food products all added in response to customer demand. As a cliche "the customer is king" is overused, but nevertheless remains a foundation for the approach Derek and Gareth take as the business continues to grow.